Reproductive abnormalities, that could lead to possible effects at the population level, have been observed in wild fish throughout the United States, with high prevalence in largemouth bass (LMB; ) and smallmouth bass (). Estrone (E1) and atrazine (ATR) are common environmental contaminants often associated with agricultural land use. 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) is a contaminant associated with wastewater treatment effluent, and a representative, well-studied estrogen commonly used for fish toxicity testing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisease outbreaks, skin lesions, mortality events, and reproductive abnormalities have been observed in wild populations of centrarchids. The presence of estrogenic endocrine disrupting compounds (EEDCs) has been implicated as a potential causal factor for these effects. The effects of prior EEDC exposure on immune response were examined in juvenile largemouth bass () exposed to a potent synthetic estrogen (17α-ethinylestradiol, EE2) at a low (EE2, 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEffects-directed analysis (EDA) is an important tool for identifying unknown bioactive components in a complex mixture. Such an analysis of endocrine-active chemicals (EACs) from water sources has promising regulatory implications but also unique logistical challenges. We propose a conceptual EDA (framework) based on a critical review of EDA literature and concentrations of common EACs in waste and surface waters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aquatic food web of the Great Lakes has been contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) since the mid-20th century. Threats of PCB exposures to long-lived species of fish, such as lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), have been uncertain because of a lack of information on the relative sensitivity of the species. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the sensitivity of early-life stage lake sturgeon to 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB-126) or 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObservations of reddish to "purple" discolored eggs in the ovaries of adult female blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) from the northern arm of Eufaula Lake, a eutrophic multiuse impoundment in east-central Oklahoma, were first reported in 2006. Blue catfish eggs are normally cream to light yellow. Reports peaked in 2007-2008 and declined through 2009-2010; purple eggs have not been reported between 2010 and 2014.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevious studies have shown inexplicable declines in breeding waterbirds within western New York/New Jersey Harbor between 1996 and 2002 and elevated polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) eggs. The present study assessed associations between immune function, prefledgling survival, and selected organochlorine compounds and metals in herring gulls (Larus argentatus) and black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) in lower New York Harbor during 2003. In pipping gull embryos, lymphoid cells were counted in the thymus and bursa of Fabricius (sites of T and B lymphocyte maturation, respectively).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe finding of dieldrin (88 ng/g), DDE (52 ng/g), and heptachlor epoxide (19 ng/g) in earthworms from experimental plots after a single moderate application (9 kg/ha) 45 years earlier attests to the remarkable persistence of these compounds in soil and their continued uptake by soil organisms. Half-lives (with 95 % confidence intervals) in earthworms, estimated from exponential decay equations, were as follows: dieldrin 4.9 (4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConcerns about indoor air quality and the potential effects on people living in these environments are increasing as more reports about the toxicities and the potential indoor air exposure levels of household-use chemicals and chemicals from housing and fumishing manufacture in air are being assessed. Gas chromatography/mass spectromery was used to confirm numerous airborne contaminants obtained from the analysis of semipermeable membrane devices deployed inside of 52 homes situated along the border between Arizona and Mexico. We also describe nontarget analytes in the organochlorine pesticide fractions of 12 of these homes; this fraction is also the most likely to contain the broadest scope of bioconcentratable chemicals accumulated from the indoor air.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLargemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) were collected from 13 sites located in the Mobile (MRB), Apalachicola-Flint-Chattahoochee (ARB), Savannah (SRB), and Pee Dee (PRB) River Basins to document spatial trends in accumulative chemical contaminants, health indicators, and reproductive biomarkers. Organochlorine residues, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin-like activity (TCDD-EQ), and elemental contaminants were measured in composite samples of whole fish, grouped by species and gender, from each site. Mercury (Hg) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were the primary contaminants of concern.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolyhalogenated hydrocarbons have been implicated in the anomalous sexual differentiation of mammals and reptiles. Here, a temperature-sensitive turtle sex determination assay using the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) was used to determine the estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB-126). Neither TCDD nor PCB-126 showed a statistically significant difference in the resulting sex ratios (Fisher's exact test, p < 0.
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